(STICKY) (HERALD ZW) President calls for new world order
June 14, 2014
Mabasa Sasa in Santa Cruz, Bolivia
President Mugabe has called for the Group of 77+China to be at the forefront of creating a global order that represents the interests and aspirations of downtrodden people and oppose domination by Western powers. The President said this soon after landing in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, yesterday where he will attend today’s 50th anniversary Commemorative Summit of the G77+China, which runs today and tomorrow.
President Mugabe is accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi and other senior Government officials.
On arrival, President Mugabe inspected a guard of honour and was then treated to two displays of Bolivian cultural dance and music.
Thereafter, he addressed scores of people who had gathered to welcome him to the South American country, saying Zimbabwe would join the rest of the G77+China in fighting oppression and advancing developing countries’ interests.
“We should come together economically, come together politically, come together socially to form a really, really active and operational Group of 77 that will stand firm and can be relied on to protect our interests and aspirations,” President Mugabe said.
The G77 was established in 1964 and is the largest inter-governmental organisation of developing countries operating within the United Nations system.
Founded by 77 countries, its membership has grown to 133 covering Africa, Asia and Latin America, but retains its original name and continues to pursue development of South-South co-operation and co-ordination of mutually beneficial positions at the UN.
On Wednesday, Xinhua reported the host President Evo Morales saying Bolivia could afford to host the summit because it was “financially solvent thanks to the nationalisation of the energy sector”.
Leaders and their representatives are expected to discuss issues such as unemployment, poverty, climate change and food security.
A matter most participants are looking forward to is presentation by Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro of evidence of a United States-backed plot to assassinate him.
“We are going to show the evidence of assassination plots, implicating opposition leaders and US officials,” President Maduro has said.
Venezuela has experienced widespread destabilisation since the death of the iconic President Hugo Chavez last year, with opposition groups reportedly getting financial, technical and moral support from Washington to overthrow President Maduro’s government and undo pro-poor policies implemented over the past 15 years.
The choice of Bolivia to host the commemorative summit could not have been more inspired.
President Morales is Bolivia’s first democratically-elected leader from the indigenous population.
Morales’ administration has busied itself with poverty eradication, nationalisation and economic empowerment and eroding the influence of the United States and big Western corporations in the local economy and body politic.
President Morales has exacted more taxes from the hydrocarbons sector, has instituted agrarian reforms and boosted literacy.
Expectations are that he will be re-elected by a landslide in polls later this year.
Bolivia itself is named after Simón Bolívar, who died in 1830 and is considered one of the most influential politicians in Latin America’s history.
Bolívar was a soldier and politician who was instrumental in ending Spain’s colonisation of Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, playing a central role in the creation of a union called Gran Colombia, which he led from 1819 to his death.
The politics and economics of self-reliance and South-South co-operation are central to the ideology of the G77+China.
At their last meeting at the UN headquarters in the United States in 2013, foreign affairs ministers of the G77+China resolved, among other things, to maintain focus on poverty eradication and food security of their peoples.
“Ministers stressed that poverty eradication is the greatest global challenge facing the world today and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development . . .
“Ministers further stressed that, in order to enable governments of developing countries to effectively eradicate poverty, developing countries must ensure national ownership of their own development agenda, which entails preserving their own policy space backed by a strong political commitment to reduce poverty in line with their national priorities and circumstances.”
They also called for strengthening of the UN system and reform of multilateral lending institutions and the international financial architecture to make them more democratic, and debt restructuring.
“The ministers firmly rejected the imposition of laws and regulations with extraterritorial impact and all other forms of coercive economic measures, including unilateral sanctions against developing countries, and reiterated the urgent need to eliminate them immediately,” their declaration read.
“They emphasised that such actions not only undermine the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and international law, but also severely threaten the freedom of trade and investment.
‘‘They, therefore, called on the international community neither to recognise these measures nor apply them.”
Labels: CHINA, EVO MORALES, G77, NEW WORLD ORDER, ROBERT MUGABE
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TAZARA acquires new locomotives from China
By Gift Chanda
Tue 31 Dec. 2013, 14:00 CAT
TAZARA has announced the acquisition of four new mainline locomotives from China in a move that will boost the railway firm's operations.
According to a press statement issued yesterday, the railway company, which is jointly owned by the Tanzanian and Zambian governments, had sealed a contract with the Chinese Civil Engineering and Construction Company (CCECC) for the manufacture and supply of the four mainline locomotives with their accompanying consumables and spare parts at approximately US$12.45 million.
TAZARA acting managing director Ronald Phiri and Miao Zhong, the TAZARA-based Chinese Railway Experts team leader, who signed the contract on behalf of TAZARA and CCECC respectively, also confirmed that CSR Qishuyan Locomotive Company Limited of China would manufacture the 3000-horsepower Diesel Electric SDD20 locomotives.
The four SDD20 locomotives, expected to be delivered by December 2014, are the second batch of the type to be manufactured by CSR for TAZARA, the first batch of six having been introduced on the line this year.
Phiri stated that the acquisition of the additional four locomotives was a key and integral part of the recently approved five-year strategic plan which envisaged the enhancement of the Authority's hauling capacity in an effort to escalate the volume of cargo and revenue in the second year of the strategic plan in 2014.
"The sooner we get these locomotives and start delivering on our 2014/2015 targets, the better," Phiri said, emphasizing that the idea was to improve both the availability and reliability of the equipment.
The six locomotives are expected to enhance the railway line's motive power and reverse the declining performance that had been witnessed in past years.
The TAZARA board of directors recently approved the railway firm's new five-year strategic plan for 2013-2018, with an indicative budget outlay of US$211.0 million from which US$177.0 million would be applied on the enhancement of capacity in critical areas.
TAZARA now has a fleet of about 16 mainline locomotives at its disposal, six of which are newly acquired Diesel Electric SDD20 locomotives while the remaining 10 are the old Diesel Electric U30C locomotives that had worked for over 25 years.
Phiri observed that the first batch of the six SDD20 locomotives posed a few teething challenges when they were introduced onto the TAZARA line earlier this year, but had since been fine-tuned and were performing satisfactorily.
"We are confident that having observed the first batch of the SDD20 locos under three months of trials followed by three months of actual utilisation, the next batch of the SDD20 locos would come with even higher quality and level of reliability," he added.
Phiri said all indications were that TAZARA was heading for better times, especially that the two shareholding governments had given a go-ahead for private sector partnerships, which were expected to fill the investment gaps in needy areas of operations.
Labels: CHINA, TAZARA
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(HERALD ZW) China — The ‘Enemy’ the West Donates to us
November 30, 2013 Musah Gwaunza Nathaniel Manheru
Zimbabwe is set to export over US$1billion worth of tobacco, surpassing the US$800million exported last season.
Zimbabwe is set to export over US$1billion worth of tobacco, surpassing the US$800million exported last season.
Let’s punch in a few figures, even though I know figures don’t make good, easy read. We need them all the same, more so when one realises certain prejudices have tended to entrench and misguide debate on national issues, all in the absence of hard figures and facts. I will start with tobacco, our area of real breakthrough.
Earnings have hit US$1.3bn this marketing season, up from slightly over US$700million recorded same season last year. This staggering figure comes from the 160million kg of tobacco sold during the season, well above the 130million of previous season. From this haul, we are set to export over US$1billion worth of tobacco, surpassing the US$800million exported last season.
The downside is that we process and consume a mere three percent from this staggering harvest, arguably good for national health but decidedly bad for value addition, for our movement away from the raw material export regime which has been the bane of our economy and economies of most Third World countries. All these are TIMB figures.
When the Chinaman smokes
But there are some key figures emerging from our raw tobacco exports. China is and has been the country’s biggest tobacco buyer, been so for more than a decade now. It takes in 46,3 million kg tobacco worth almost US$360million.
Indeed the Chinese love their smoke, and
need our tobacco to ginger up theirs. What is more, China also gives the country the highest average price by volumes of US$7,76 per kg. Additionally, China funds the growing of a sizeable portion of this tobacco through contract farming.
There is another shocker. The next best buyer of our tobacco after China is Belgium, accounting for 22million kg, just below half of what China
buys. Belgium’s value to the industry is US$114 million, at an average price of US$5,15 per kg, which is about US$2.5 dollars shy of the Chinese average price.
Next is South Africa, coming a distant third from imports accounting for 17million kg of our tobacco worth 56million at an average price of US$3,36. I am told the highest price came from Japan which paid US$10.03 per kg, but bought a mere 600kg. Of course the Congo offered the worst price of US$0.29. It accounted for 76 800kg of our tobacco.
I need to clinch the points: China is the biggest and best buyer of our tobacco whose growing it also sponsors through contract farming.
The next best customer is Belgium, followed by South Africa. Let us keep that order in mind in this industry which now records almost 84 000 growers who, arguably, are also households. Compute the welfare implications of this and the broader land reform programme which made this possible.
Indeed when the China man smokes, Zimbabwe catches a livelihood.
When size of concern outstrips trade
I move on to Zimbabwe’s broad trade with the rest of the world. Trade between China and Zimbabwe grew 30 percent in the nine months to September, with Zimbabwe enjoying a surplus of US$279million, according to figures released by the Chinese Embassy here. Zimbabwe’s exports were up 44 percent and valued at US$597million, against Chinese imports of US$318million.
Of course the greater portion of Zimbabwe’s exports to China subsist in raw tobacco. Not diamonds as widely believed! Noteworthy is the fact that our imports from China are largely machinery.
China smokeThe Trade and Law Centre which captures trade statistics between Zimbabwe and the whole of the EU record a doubling of trade to US$888,12million in 2012, up from US$479million three years before in 2009. Of course sanctions made sure the trade between the bloc and Zimbabwe declined from an all-time high of US$1,2bn achieved in 2009, just before land reforms.
In fact the US$888,12million marks some decline from US$931,5 achieved in 2011, indicating some fluctuations but within a general upward trend in trade. Our exports are dominated by minerals but also include agricultural products.
Again, let me clinch the points. Let it be recorded that more of our finite mineral resources are going to the EU than to China, a point rarely acknowledged by our pseudo-European, African nationalist commentators!
Let it also be recorded that value of trade between Zimbabwe and China peeps that between Zimbabwe and the whole EU bloc. I hope we can give our policies and this notion of re-engagement with the West a sense of size and proportion. It makes little sense to go feverish about engaging people whose trade value to us is small and unpredictable, while bad mouthing those who are emerging as real trading partners. Let the size of our affection and concern be the size of our trade. Please!
The way to Brussels is via Brussels
How about boss America? Well, the US Department of Commerce says in the three quarters of this year, Zimbabwe has recorded a trade surplus of US$32million in its trade with America. Total trade between the two countries is worth US$106million.
The rises in the last three years have been marginal. Our exports to the Americans are predominantly minerals , then skins and a few agricultural commodities. Again, let our Eurocentric commentators take note — due note — of who is using up our finite mineral resources.
But a few more points are in order. The US$32 million trade surplus is a little shy from the US$20 million our companies have lost to the US by way of impounded receipts under the sanctions law, ZDERA. That makes America’s net cost to this economy huge, when read against the paltry US$32million surplus, so-called.
Our tobacco sales to Belgium mean more to us than our total trade with America. Surely it is much more than re-engaging the West; it is about quantifying the West’s value to us, and also forensically determining which polity in the whole western world is worth developing relations with.
Given Belgium’s role on our diamonds, Belgium is definitely worth cultivating, and Brussels is not reached through London or Washington.
China the investor
I move on to the area of investment. The Zimbabwe Investment Authority (ZIA) recently revealed that China emerges as a consistent top investor in Zimbabwe from 2010, with its investments contributing 72 percent, or US$670million from a total of US$930million worth of projects approved last year. By end of October, ZIA had approved US$374,8million worth of investments mainly in the areas of energy and mining.
Given Belgium’s role on our diamonds, Belgium is definitely worth cultivating, and Brussels is not reached through London or Washington.
Given Belgium’s role on our diamonds, Belgium is definitely worth cultivating, and Brussels is not reached through London or Washington.
In fact in 2012, China’s cumulative investments in the mining sector (gold, diamonds and chrome) totalled US$583million, or 62percent of the total US$688million FDI approvals for the entire Zimbabwean mining industry last year. China offers 40 tradeable minerals, all of them in Zimbabwe.
Agriculture amounted to US$18,6million of her investments, manufacturing US$35,5million, while US$23million went into services. Construction accounted for US$7,4million.
There is clear evidence of balanced Chinese appetite across sectors, with an emphasis on medium to large-scale projects.
When not looking West really helps
There is another surprise. Russia emerges second on investments, with approvals from it worth US$40,1million. Next came South Africa with US$39million, and UK with US$34million.
Next comes Mauritius with approvals worth US$25million. But of course these are figures on mere approvals. Real figures on investments which come into the country are far lower, albeit with China still dominating.
ZIA figures show China as having invested US$100million in the first five months of the year, followed by Malaysia with US$11million and South Africa with US$7million.
The key points to make is that China is targeting extractive industries which it is still developing. Presently it cannot explain who is chewing our finite mineral resources, although it could in due course. But its partnership approach to investments gives us an equal share in the exploitation of those resources.
More important, Zimbabwe’s healthy resource base means more Chinese FDI is more than likely. Secondly, Russia is to be watched as a growing investor in Zimbabwe, with Zimbabwe gaining more from associating and cultivating South Africa and Mauritius than the hoary UK, all along its traditional circumstantial investor and decade-long tormentor.
China does, the West’s endless excuses
Even more important, China is entering the infrastructural and energy areas, both of which are key enablers to economic recovery as envisaged under Zim Asset. A good pointer to China’s responsiveness to local beneficiation policies are the US$100million-worth of five chrome processing plants underway, one of which is now virtually complete, sited at Selous.
Contrast this with the Americans who have been here, exploiting our Chrome since UDI days when they refused to obey UN sanctions citing security concerns. Contrast this with British extractive companies which have been here for well over a century without beneficiating.
Contrast this with Zimplats which has been dropping all manner of arguments on why a platinum refinery is not yet possible. Early December shall witness a major Chinese investment in the cotton ginning sector.
Early December shall witness a major Chinese investment in the cotton ginning sector.
Early December shall witness a major Chinese investment in the cotton ginning sector.
About this, let me not give away too much, except to say that job creation is going to be massive, both directly and indirectly. These are the hard facts, formidably backed by statistics. I take it we are all agreed that real jobs and real value come from value addition, not raw exports.
I apologise for this part which is so heavily laced with figures. But we needed it for what follows.
Another Caliban, again
I now turn to the dominant economic discourse in this country, all in the light of the above hard facts. One article which dominated headlines this week read: “Analysts, citizens slam Look East policy.”
The article expresses serious reservations about “the conduct of Asian investors in Zimbabwe”, adding “The Chinese in particular have become notorious for their violation of the labour laws, which in some instances involves long working hours, poor salaries and lack of protective clothing as well as physical abuse of employees.
They have also come under fire for failing to create employment amid allegations they are bringing cheap labour from their country. The extremely poor quality of products they sell here has become a major concern among consumers. Of late, the Chinese have been implicated in illegal activities such as smuggling of minerals and ivory poaching.”
Some economist is imported into the story — one Innocent Makwiramiti — who says the Chinese have failed to fill the void left by Western investors and have become “more looters than investors”.
“They have failed to create employment compared to Western investors, who come with their technology and skills and impart them to the locals,” adds the so-called economist.
It is almost the story of Caliban, the conquered native for whom gaining a new master — not getting emancipated from all mastery — seems a major milestone. It is so sad.
Why are you here, Chinese?
Then John Robertson weighs in: “Their objective is to make money for China and we should not be encouraging that kind of investment.” Then ZCTU’s Nkiwane who calls them “worst employers”. After Nkiwane comes ordinary black Zimbabweans from “Harare’s Central Business District”, all brought in to prove that “public opinion was very much against the Chinese.”
In reality, the article whips an anti-Chinese sentiment almost to xenophobic proportions. “I have not yet seen anything that would justify the Chinese staying here. Despite their presence, we still have a high unemployment rate unlike during the days of Western investors.
“They are only here because of Zanu-PF — their mission is to make money and go,” says one Last Chinodya from Mufakose. As a representative voice for us blacks, Chinodya sounds militant and nationalistic, averse to any occupation of national space by the Chinese. But only by the Chinese. No regard is paid to the rampant persisting unemployment, only matched by many westerners who remain here. So what justifies their staying here? And it is as if the small Chinese have toppled our dear, employing whites! Again, so, so sad!
We don’t need to look east!
In case you thought the above article is a fluke, here is the Zimbabwe Independent, a finance and business weekly. Its editorial comment this week, titled “We need coherent, pragmatic leaders”, rails against a hidebound, ideological approach to national issues by the political leadership, all in an increasingly complex and interdependent world. In part the editorial comment reads: “Zimbabwe is “looking east”, while the East is looking West and on every other direction.
Deng, with his cat metaphor, and Kwame Nkrumah’s words, long debunked this misleading linear thinking. The truth is we don’t need such things as the “Look East” policy; we need progressive thinking and strategies of economic development.
Government can’t afford to think within the “Us versus Them” premise; their policies and decisions must be based on research, data, technocratic advice and citizens needs. We live in a world of complex matrices and perplexing choices, so we need to be more nuanced and discerning in our understanding of issues. Crude and crass thinking doesn’t help anymore. Zimbabwe needs a coherent and pragmatic leadership, not insular and myopic rulers, more so when clashes over resources have become a political lightning rod in many mineral-rich countries like ours.” Of course in many ways the editorial reads like Manheru last week, except for very different reasons.
On whose behalf are we angry?
I want to raise key questions in the continuing discussion on our national visioning task. What factual and statistical basis supports Zimbabwe’s incipient but clearly growing anti-Chinese discourse in its economic arguments and visioning escapades? The above statistics clearly attest to a growing role for Chinese capital at a time of sanctions-induced severe contraction on the part of western capital, whether actual or prospective. What supports this reflexive deriding of Chinese capital which has waded into our market in spite of greater politics, against all caution? Are we dealing with an economic argument or a political attitude?
On whose behalf are we angry with the Chinese? . . .Once asked Arthur Mutambara.
On whose behalf are we angry with the Chinese? . . .Once asked Arthur Mutambara.
If it’s a political attitude, whose is it, ours, congenitally ours, or induced and borrowed? The figures above show who has been moving Zimbabwe in its lean years. Who, in other words, has been stopping the country from collapsing. I would want to believe that is our real interest, collective national interest. So, in whose interest is this anti-Chinese sentiment which comes through us as raw anger, indigenous and very black? On whose behalf are we angry with the Chinese? It is a question Arthur Mutambara once raised, but we ducked responsibility for answering it by turning it into a rhetorical question.
Blaming China for western ruin
Or the obverse, before the rise of China as an economic powerhouse, western capital was dominant here, both before and after our Independence. By the mid nineties and certainly after the 2000 land reform programme, that capital deserted this market on political instructions and as part of building pressure against our taking back our land. The current industrial dysfunction has nothing to do with the Chinese. It has everything to do with western resistance to Zimbabwe’s post-independence nationalist policies before we looked East, everything to do with western economic sabotage to force the hand of local politics. Blair even wanted to follow that hostile action through with military action. Yet we don’t blame the offending West, don’t blame ourselves, our entitlement policies and the land we have recovered.
Accept that this is the price we pay for our freedom and heritage. No, we blame the Chinese, ostensibly for not replacing the westerners effectively after they have ruined our country, by creating many jobs for us and by transferring technology to us! Except the westerners took back their jobs and never injected new technology here, which is why this country beats the rest of the world as an industrial museum showcase for decrepit technologies. It is as if the West left in protest at the arrival of the Chinese, and not that the Chinese only coming in after the West has left in a huff.
Tony Blair even wanted to follow the West's hostile action against Zimbabwe through with military action. Yet we don’t blame the offending West, don’t blame ourselves, our entitlement policies and the land we have recovered.
Tony Blair even wanted to follow the West’s hostile action against Zimbabwe through with military action. Yet we don’t blame the offending West, don’t blame ourselves, our entitlement policies and the land we have recovered.
Don’t we sense we have a problem, ourselves as Zimbabweans and how we understand and appreciate our total circumstances? Surely it makes better sense to blame and attack the West for ruining our jobs and destroying our economy?
Reverse insularity
And then our understanding of rules for investors who come here. When we say Government must be pro-business and pro-investors, indeed berate it for being ideological in a pragmatic era, are we laying down ground rules for all investors regardless of colour, shape of face, height and geographical origin? Or are we hiding behind these seemingly broad, neutral rules to push through our pro-West ideological hide-boundedness whose flip side is the same ideological inflexibility we charge the political leadership with? When we say “we don’t need such things as the “Look East” policy”, are we not saying we only need “Look West” policy, and saying so with a sense of supreme flexibility, wisdom and fashionable bigotry? Are we not being “insular and myopic”, like our rulers against whom we reserve full rheum?
White, western and Rhodesian
Robertson says the objective of Chinese businesses “is to make money for China and we should not be encouraging that kind of investment.” Although I don’t know who “we” is, I still say fair enough. But what has been the objectives of British, American, German, Dutch, Swedish investments since 1890? For whom have they been making money? For the Chinese, for the Russians, for the Africans? Which investor in this country has made money for someone else other than themselves , their country and race?
Where are the national returns on the countless mining dumps, industrial chimneys, broken lives and livelihoods that are ours to count and endure as the once colonised? Robertson confuses me. And when his fellow Rhodesian – Eddie Cross – tells Parliament only this week that: “There is no investor in the world that is going to put a dollar on the table and have fifty-one cents taken by ZANU-PF,” might such a rule of thumb on investor handling encompass, accommodate the Chinese? Where would that leave Robertson and is arguments? And Cross makes remarks that yield an amusing yet far-reaching double-meaning: “We cannot expect any substantial new investment in Zimbabwe until we are able to guarantee
Cecil John Rhodes . . .The pioneer of colonialism. What has been the objectives of British, American, German, Dutch, Swedish investments since 1890 as they scrambled for Zimbabwe?
those investors power”! Could we concede such power to all investors, including the Chinese? Or an investor is more than he who brings in capital? He must be white, western or Rhodesian? What would be our stake as Africans in such a racialised definition?
Selective xenophobia
One senses not just double standards, but a deep-seated racism which we have met sometime in our history, but which we have never fully grasped by way of its full scope in history, its extraordinary adaptability in post-colonial, global times. What is worse, we have internalised it. Historically, racism developed in circumstances of colonial invasion, occupation and plunder. Whilst its core tenets were the same, it adapted itself to circumstances of subject nations and peoples against whom it was practised. We Africans mistakenly think we are the only victims of racism. No, we aren’t.
The Chinese, the Indians and the Latinos were. What is not known by many in Zimbabwe is that just as we blacks were profiled as indolent, infantile and lewd, the Chinese were characterised as sly, deceitful and given to stealing, so mischaracterised by the same British who dehumanised us here. Before British eyes, we were the same subjects who had to be redeemed from damnation. How different is this image from the dummy Robertson and his ilk are selling us today, in spite of China’s powerful role in global affairs? Don’t we see the incongruity of a black mouth spouting the same dehumanising epithets as was reserved for a fellow oppressed Chinese by the British in colonial heyday?
If China is so deceitful and so bad for nations, why is the West looking and courting East, something apparently unknown to the Zimbabwe Independent? But it is also funny that we black Zimbabweans are incited to hate the Chinese who gave us guns and the technology of liberation yesterday, give us technology and capital for development today, while loving uxoriously the very westerners who have crafted and imposed hurtful sanctions that daily ravage our lives and destroy our collective livelihoods. Or that we who have suffered more than 400 000 white intruders and occupiers here for well over a century, suddenly invent xenophobia against a handful of Chinese people who are here to do business with us, indeed have only been here less than a decade ago. Why are we taught to hate people with whom we have a shared colonial history, taught to hate each other by our common enemy?
Bearded infantiles
It helps to recall that one enduring ruse of imperialism is turn its real victims into its “freed” beneficiaries from another and even imaginary evil power invented solely to burnish its own otherwise glaring misdeeds and evil acts. So in 1890 the Shonas were not invaded, conquered, occupied and enslaved; they were saved from a marauding despot called Lobengula. So goes the colonial lore. Similarly, today Zimbabweans have to fear and be saved from the Chinese who loot their diamonds and “invest only for China”, and not from the British who have looted their country, independence, resources and personality since 1890.
Not saved from the same British who seek the old colonial mastery. I thought we had come of age, grown older than child-men and child-women of yore, bearded infantiles who are given new, diversionary scapegoats by their real enemies. That way we forget that China became a powerhouse not by smoking British opium, not by aping British ways, but by skillfully riding the hyena of capitalism, taming it until it accepted to have Chinese characteristics. I have no problem in Zimbabweans not wanting to lose their finite resources to the Chinese; what bothers me is their readiness to lose them to the West. And feeling most holy and righteous about it. Icho!
nathaniel.manheru@zimpapers.co.zw
Labels: CHINA, JOHN ROBERTSON, NATHANIEL MANHERU, NEOLIBERALISM, TOBACCO
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(NEWZIMBABWE) We should learn from, not just Look East
21/12/2013 00:00:00
by Brian Kazungu
THE Zimbabwean government adopted the look East Policy after falling out with the West. This look East Policy has however not been of much help to the country because - just like the name implies - it is merely a look at the East rather than to look, learn, engage and adopt what the East is doing when compared to what is happening and being achieved in the East especially by a country like China.
There is too much activity in China so far, as an independent state as well as in its cooperation with the other countries all over the world. And, therefore, considering the progress that is so evident in the economies of the East especially China it would be difficult for any country to interact with them and fail to register economic progress. As such if our Look East policy was meant to look, learn and apply, Zimbabwe could have reverted back to its coveted status of being the bread basket of Africa and could have achieved other accomplishments worth of positive global attention.
China’s economy is being premised on its ability to interact with other countries including the United States of America, Britain, Germany and other European countries. Multimillion dollar transactions have been signed between China and these countries in which China has opened up for investment from these countries while Chinese investors are being welcomed to reciprocate the favour.
In one notable case the Chinese investors have been welcomed and thanked by the British premier, David Cameron, for a deal in which they are going to invest in the nuclear energy facility and the HS2 rail projects in Britain. Cameron said the people of Britain would not be disturbed by the nuclear project since it is not going to be funded by their taxpayer’s money but was going to be funded by the Chinese investment.
China and America also have a number of initiatives for mutual benefit including the Educational Exchange program among the 100 000 strong initiatives launched in 2010 in Beijing by then American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. As reported in local media, China did engage some funds close to $198 million from 1990 to 2010 in seed funding for the Chinese student studying abroad who choose to come back and work in China. China was also said to have adopted its Thousand Talents Plan in 2008 in a move through which the government is trying to convince the overseas Chinese to return home in order to close the talent deficit resulting from brain drain. Under the plan returning top scientists and entrepreneurs are offered as much as $150,000 in cash, office and laboratory space, housing allowances and school entry for children.
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China has also another long term plan set to run from 2010-2020 called the Medium and Long Term Talent Development Plan which aims to attract 2,000 specialists in IT, Biotechnology, aerospace, environmental protection, agricultural technology and transportation. A leading American university, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has seen it fit to engage China as evidenced by what Victor Zue, MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Professor and Chairman of the MIT Greater China Strategy Working Group reflected on behalf of his boss Rafael Reif who said if they don’t engage China now, 10 years from now they will have to take a number two.
Vending encouraged … Bananas being sold on the streets, Guangzhou
All these achievements and strides demonstrate that China needs to be engaged and learnt from not just to be looked at. China is a vast expanse of land with a booming economy but unlike Zimbabwe the Chinese do allow vendors to sell their wares freely on the streets without victimization by the city councils and the national police. Transport problems are easily contained by the fact that there is extensive use of buses, registered taxis and even motorbikes that ferry people from one place to another. In Zimbabwe, however, transport operators are in constant clashes with the authorities a move which interferes with productivity and efficiency, hence a decline in GDP.
There are a lot of family-owned small or backyard business in almost every street in China which brings goods and services closer to the people while at the same time encouraging a business mentality in the community. Family-owned businesses help to promote an entrepreneurial spirit in the family even from childhood level since the children have a chance to observe and participate in the family income generating projects. Considering the vast amounts of underutilized land in Zimbabwe, there is no excuse for the current housing shortages compared to China where it is almost difficult to find an open unutilized space.
In addition, Chinese people that are in China are a humble and very accommodating people chiefly because of the fact that almost every family has a business of some sort to mind and therefore customer-service ends up translating into a societal way of interaction where people are respected across the board since there is a chance that every person is a potential customer.
Zimbabwe’s problem is that the country has merely looked East rather than engaging with the East and doing what the East is doing. We must stop this business of shunning the West and only dealing with China. Because China has extensive commercial dealings with the West, this only means we are engaging the West through a third party and third party transactions tend to be costly as was demonstrated with our diamond deals which cost the country huge amounts of money.
Labels: CHINA, NEOLIBERALISM
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(HERALD ZW) China — The ‘Enemy’ the West Donates to us
November 30, 2013 Musah Gwaunza Nathaniel Manheru
Zimbabwe is set to export over US$1billion worth of tobacco, surpassing the US$800million exported last season.
Let’s punch in a few figures, even though I know figures don’t make good, easy read. We need them all the same, more so when one realises certain prejudices have tended to entrench and misguide debate on national issues, all in the absence of hard figures and facts. I will start with tobacco, our area of real breakthrough.
Earnings have hit US$1.3bn this marketing season, up from slightly over US$700million recorded same season last year. This staggering figure comes from the 160million kg of tobacco sold during the season, well above the 130million of previous season. From this haul, we are set to export over US$1billion worth of tobacco, surpassing the US$800million exported last season.
The downside is that we process and consume a mere three percent from this staggering harvest, arguably good for national health but decidedly bad for value addition, for our movement away from the raw material export regime which has been the bane of our economy and economies of most Third World countries. All these are TIMB figures.
When the Chinaman smokes
But there are some key figures emerging from our raw tobacco exports. China is and has been the country’s biggest tobacco buyer, been so for more than a decade now. It takes in 46,3 million kg tobacco worth almost US$360million.
Indeed the Chinese love their smoke, and need our tobacco to ginger up theirs. What is more, China also gives the country the highest average price by volumes of US$7,76 per kg. Additionally, China funds the growing of a sizeable portion of this tobacco through contract farming.
There is another shocker. The next best buyer of our tobacco after China is Belgium, accounting for 22million kg, just below half of what China buys. Belgium’s value to the industry is US$114 million, at an average price of US$5,15 per kg, which is about US$2.5 dollars shy of the Chinese average price.
Next is South Africa, coming a distant third from imports accounting for 17million kg of our tobacco worth 56million at an average price of US$3,36. I am told the highest price came from Japan which paid US$10.03 per kg, but bought a mere 600kg. Of course the Congo offered the worst price of US$0.29. It accounted for 76 800kg of our tobacco.
I need to clinch the points: China is the biggest and best buyer of our tobacco whose growing it also sponsors through contract farming.
The next best customer is Belgium, followed by South Africa. Let us keep that order in mind in this industry which now records almost 84 000 growers who, arguably, are also households. Compute the welfare implications of this and the broader land reform programme which made this possible.
Indeed when the China man smokes, Zimbabwe catches a livelihood.
When size of concern outstrips trade
I move on to Zimbabwe’s broad trade with the rest of the world. Trade between China and Zimbabwe grew 30 percent in the nine months to September, with Zimbabwe enjoying a surplus of US$279million, according to figures released by the Chinese Embassy here. Zimbabwe’s exports were up 44 percent and valued at US$597million, against Chinese imports of US$318million.
Of course the greater portion of Zimbabwe’s exports to China subsist in raw tobacco. Not diamonds as widely believed! Noteworthy is the fact that our imports from China are largely machinery.
China smokeThe Trade and Law Centre which captures trade statistics between Zimbabwe and the whole of the EU record a doubling of trade to US$888,12million in 2012, up from US$479million three years before in 2009. Of course sanctions made sure the trade between the bloc and Zimbabwe declined from an all-time high of US$1,2bn achieved in 2009, just before land reforms.
In fact the US$888,12million marks some decline from US$931,5 achieved in 2011, indicating some fluctuations but within a general upward trend in trade. Our exports are dominated by minerals but also include agricultural products.
Again, let me clinch the points. Let it be recorded that more of our finite mineral resources are going to the EU than to China, a point rarely acknowledged by our pseudo-European, African nationalist commentators!
Let it also be recorded that value of trade between Zimbabwe and China peeps that between Zimbabwe and the whole EU bloc. I hope we can give our policies and this notion of re-engagement with the West a sense of size and proportion. It makes little sense to go feverish about engaging people whose trade value to us is small and unpredictable, while bad mouthing those who are emerging as real trading partners. Let the size of our affection and concern be the size of our trade. Please!
The way to Brussels is via Brussels
How about boss America? Well, the US Department of Commerce says in the three quarters of this year, Zimbabwe has recorded a trade surplus of US$32million in its trade with America. Total trade between the two countries is worth US$106million.
The rises in the last three years have been marginal. Our exports to the Americans are predominantly minerals , then skins and a few agricultural commodities. Again, let our Eurocentric commentators take note — due note — of who is using up our finite mineral resources.
But a few more points are in order. The US$32 million trade surplus is a little shy from the US$20 million our companies have lost to the US by way of impounded receipts under the sanctions law, ZDERA. That makes America’s net cost to this economy huge, when read against the paltry US$32million surplus, so-called.
Our tobacco sales to Belgium mean more to us than our total trade with America. Surely it is much more than re-engaging the West; it is about quantifying the West’s value to us, and also forensically determining which polity in the whole western world is worth developing relations with.
Given Belgium’s role on our diamonds, Belgium is definitely worth cultivating, and Brussels is not reached through London or Washington.
China the investor
I move on to the area of investment. The Zimbabwe Investment Authority (ZIA) recently revealed that China emerges as a consistent top investor in Zimbabwe from 2010, with its investments contributing 72 percent, or US$670million from a total of US$930million worth of projects approved last year. By end of October, ZIA had approved US$374,8million worth of investments mainly in the areas of energy and mining.
Given Belgium’s role on our diamonds, Belgium is definitely worth cultivating, and Brussels is not reached through London or Washington.
In fact in 2012, China’s cumulative investments in the mining sector (gold, diamonds and chrome) totalled US$583million, or 62percent of the total US$688million FDI approvals for the entire Zimbabwean mining industry last year. China offers 40 tradeable minerals, all of them in Zimbabwe.
Agriculture amounted to US$18,6million of her investments, manufacturing US$35,5million, while US$23million went into services. Construction accounted for US$7,4million.
There is clear evidence of balanced Chinese appetite across sectors, with an emphasis on medium to large-scale projects.
When not looking West really helps
There is another surprise. Russia emerges second on investments, with approvals from it worth US$40,1million. Next came South Africa with US$39million, and UK with US$34million.
Next comes Mauritius with approvals worth US$25million. But of course these are figures on mere approvals. Real figures on investments which come into the country are far lower, albeit with China still dominating.
ZIA figures show China as having invested US$100million in the first five months of the year, followed by Malaysia with US$11million and South Africa with US$7million.
The key points to make is that China is targeting extractive industries which it is still developing. Presently it cannot explain who is chewing our finite mineral resources, although it could in due course. But its partnership approach to investments gives us an equal share in the exploitation of those resources.
More important, Zimbabwe’s healthy resource base means more Chinese FDI is more than likely. Secondly, Russia is to be watched as a growing investor in Zimbabwe, with Zimbabwe gaining more from associating and cultivating South Africa and Mauritius than the hoary UK, all along its traditional circumstantial investor and decade-long tormentor.
China does, the West’s endless excuses
Even more important, China is entering the infrastructural and energy areas, both of which are key enablers to economic recovery as envisaged under Zim Asset. A good pointer to China’s responsiveness to local beneficiation policies are the US$100million-worth of five chrome processing plants underway, one of which is now virtually complete, sited at Selous.
Contrast this with the Americans who have been here, exploiting our Chrome since UDI days when they refused to obey UN sanctions citing security concerns. Contrast this with British extractive companies which have been here for well over a century without beneficiating.
Contrast this with Zimplats which has been dropping all manner of arguments on why a platinum refinery is not yet possible. Early December shall witness a major Chinese investment in the cotton ginning sector.
Early December shall witness a major Chinese investment in the cotton ginning sector.
About this, let me not give away too much, except to say that job creation is going to be massive, both directly and indirectly. These are the hard facts, formidably backed by statistics. I take it we are all agreed that real jobs and real value come from value addition, not raw exports.
I apologise for this part which is so heavily laced with figures. But we needed it for what follows.
Another Caliban, again
I now turn to the dominant economic discourse in this country, all in the light of the above hard facts. One article which dominated headlines this week read: “Analysts, citizens slam Look East policy.”
The article expresses serious reservations about “the conduct of Asian investors in Zimbabwe”, adding “The Chinese in particular have become notorious for their violation of the labour laws, which in some instances involves long working hours, poor salaries and lack of protective clothing as well as physical abuse of employees.
They have also come under fire for failing to create employment amid allegations they are bringing cheap labour from their country. The extremely poor quality of products they sell here has become a major concern among consumers. Of late, the Chinese have been implicated in illegal activities such as smuggling of minerals and ivory poaching.”
Some economist is imported into the story — one Innocent Makwiramiti — who says the Chinese have failed to fill the void left by Western investors and have become “more looters than investors”.
“They have failed to create employment compared to Western investors, who come with their technology and skills and impart them to the locals,” adds the so-called economist.
It is almost the story of Caliban, the conquered native for whom gaining a new master — not getting emancipated from all mastery — seems a major milestone. It is so sad.
Why are you here, Chinese?
Then John Robertson weighs in: “Their objective is to make money for China and we should not be encouraging that kind of investment.” Then ZCTU’s Nkiwane who calls them “worst employers”. After Nkiwane comes ordinary black Zimbabweans from “Harare’s Central Business District”, all brought in to prove that “public opinion was very much against the Chinese.”
In reality, the article whips an anti-Chinese sentiment almost to xenophobic proportions. “I have not yet seen anything that would justify the Chinese staying here. Despite their presence, we still have a high unemployment rate unlike during the days of Western investors.
“They are only here because of Zanu-PF — their mission is to make money and go,” says one Last Chinodya from Mufakose. As a representative voice for us blacks, Chinodya sounds militant and nationalistic, averse to any occupation of national space by the Chinese. But only by the Chinese. No regard is paid to the rampant persisting unemployment, only matched by many westerners who remain here. So what justifies their staying here? And it is as if the small Chinese have toppled our dear, employing whites! Again, so, so sad!
We don’t need to look east!
In case you thought the above article is a fluke, here is the Zimbabwe Independent, a finance and business weekly. Its editorial comment this week, titled “We need coherent, pragmatic leaders”, rails against a hidebound, ideological approach to national issues by the political leadership, all in an increasingly complex and interdependent world. In part the editorial comment reads: “Zimbabwe is “looking east”, while the East is looking West and on every other direction.
Deng, with his cat metaphor, and Kwame Nkrumah’s words, long debunked this misleading linear thinking. The truth is we don’t need such things as the “Look East” policy; we need progressive thinking and strategies of economic development.
Government can’t afford to think within the “Us versus Them” premise; their policies and decisions must be based on research, data, technocratic advice and citizens needs. We live in a world of complex matrices and perplexing choices, so we need to be more nuanced and discerning in our understanding of issues. Crude and crass thinking doesn’t help anymore. Zimbabwe needs a coherent and pragmatic leadership, not insular and myopic rulers, more so when clashes over resources have become a political lightning rod in many mineral-rich countries like ours.” Of course in many ways the editorial reads like Manheru last week, except for very different reasons.
On whose behalf are we angry?
I want to raise key questions in the continuing discussion on our national visioning task. What factual and statistical basis supports Zimbabwe’s incipient but clearly growing anti-Chinese discourse in its economic arguments and visioning escapades? The above statistics clearly attest to a growing role for Chinese capital at a time of sanctions-induced severe contraction on the part of western capital, whether actual or prospective. What supports this reflexive deriding of Chinese capital which has waded into our market in spite of greater politics, against all caution? Are we dealing with an economic argument or a political attitude?
On whose behalf are we angry with the Chinese? . . .Once asked Arthur Mutambara.
If it’s a political attitude, whose is it, ours, congenitally ours, or induced and borrowed? The figures above show who has been moving Zimbabwe in its lean years. Who, in other words, has been stopping the country from collapsing. I would want to believe that is our real interest, collective national interest. So, in whose interest is this anti-Chinese sentiment which comes through us as raw anger, indigenous and very black? On whose behalf are we angry with the Chinese? It is a question Arthur Mutambara once raised, but we ducked responsibility for answering it by turning it into a rhetorical question.
Blaming China for western ruin
Or the obverse, before the rise of China as an economic powerhouse, western capital was dominant here, both before and after our Independence. By the mid nineties and certainly after the 2000 land reform programme, that capital deserted this market on political instructions and as part of building pressure against our taking back our land. The current industrial dysfunction has nothing to do with the Chinese. It has everything to do with western resistance to Zimbabwe’s post-independence nationalist policies before we looked East, everything to do with western economic sabotage to force the hand of local politics. Blair even wanted to follow that hostile action through with military action. Yet we don’t blame the offending West, don’t blame ourselves, our entitlement policies and the land we have recovered.
Accept that this is the price we pay for our freedom and heritage. No, we blame the Chinese, ostensibly for not replacing the westerners effectively after they have ruined our country, by creating many jobs for us and by transferring technology to us! Except the westerners took back their jobs and never injected new technology here, which is why this country beats the rest of the world as an industrial museum showcase for decrepit technologies. It is as if the West left in protest at the arrival of the Chinese, and not that the Chinese only coming in after the West has left in a huff.
Tony Blair even wanted to follow the West's hostile action against Zimbabwe through with military action. Yet we don’t blame the offending West, don’t blame ourselves, our entitlement policies and the land we have recovered.
Tony Blair even wanted to follow the West’s hostile action against Zimbabwe through with military action. Yet we don’t blame the offending West, don’t blame ourselves, our entitlement policies and the land we have recovered.
Don’t we sense we have a problem, ourselves as Zimbabweans and how we understand and appreciate our total circumstances? Surely it makes better sense to blame and attack the West for ruining our jobs and destroying our economy?
Reverse insularity
And then our understanding of rules for investors who come here. When we say Government must be pro-business and pro-investors, indeed berate it for being ideological in a pragmatic era, are we laying down ground rules for all investors regardless of colour, shape of face, height and geographical origin? Or are we hiding behind these seemingly broad, neutral rules to push through our pro-West ideological hide-boundedness whose flip side is the same ideological inflexibility we charge the political leadership with? When we say “we don’t need such things as the “Look East” policy”, are we not saying we only need “Look West” policy, and saying so with a sense of supreme flexibility, wisdom and fashionable bigotry? Are we not being “insular and myopic”, like our rulers against whom we reserve full rheum?
White, western and Rhodesian
Robertson says the objective of Chinese businesses “is to make money for China and we should not be encouraging that kind of investment.” Although I don’t know who “we” is, I still say fair enough. But what has been the objectives of British, American, German, Dutch, Swedish investments since 1890? For whom have they been making money? For the Chinese, for the Russians, for the Africans? Which investor in this country has made money for someone else other than themselves , their country and race?
Where are the national returns on the countless mining dumps, industrial chimneys, broken lives and livelihoods that are ours to count and endure as the once colonised? Robertson confuses me. And when his fellow Rhodesian – Eddie Cross – tells Parliament only this week that: “There is no investor in the world that is going to put a dollar on the table and have fifty-one cents taken by ZANU-PF,” might such a rule of thumb on investor handling encompass, accommodate the Chinese? Where would that leave Robertson and is arguments? And Cross makes remarks that yield an amusing yet far-reaching double-meaning: “We cannot expect any substantial new investment in Zimbabwe until we are able to guarantee
Cecil John Rhodes . . .The pioneer of colonialism. What has been the objectives of British, American, German, Dutch, Swedish investments since 1890 as they scrambled for Zimbabwe?
Cecil John Rhodes . . .The pioneer of colonialism. What has been the objectives of British, American, German, Dutch, Swedish investments since 1890 as they scrambled for Zimbabwe?
those investors power”! Could we concede such power to all investors, including the Chinese? Or an investor is more than he who brings in capital? He must be white, western or Rhodesian? What would be our stake as Africans in such a racialised definition?
Selective xenophobia
One senses not just double standards, but a deep-seated racism which we have met sometime in our history, but which we have never fully grasped by way of its full scope in history, its extraordinary adaptability in post-colonial, global times. What is worse, we have internalised it. Historically, racism developed in circumstances of colonial invasion, occupation and plunder. Whilst its core tenets were the same, it adapted itself to circumstances of subject nations and peoples against whom it was practised. We Africans mistakenly think we are the only victims of racism. No, we aren’t.
The Chinese, the Indians and the Latinos were. What is not known by many in Zimbabwe is that just as we blacks were profiled as indolent, infantile and lewd, the Chinese were characterised as sly, deceitful and given to stealing, so mischaracterised by the same British who dehumanised us here. Before British eyes, we were the same subjects who had to be redeemed from damnation. How different is this image from the dummy Robertson and his ilk are selling us today, in spite of China’s powerful role in global affairs? Don’t we see the incongruity of a black mouth spouting the same dehumanising epithets as was reserved for a fellow oppressed Chinese by the British in colonial heyday?
If China is so deceitful and so bad for nations, why is the West looking and courting East, something apparently unknown to the Zimbabwe Independent? But it is also funny that we black Zimbabweans are incited to hate the Chinese who gave us guns and the technology of liberation yesterday, give us technology and capital for development today, while loving uxoriously the very westerners who have crafted and imposed hurtful sanctions that daily ravage our lives and destroy our collective livelihoods. Or that we who have suffered more than 400 000 white intruders and occupiers here for well over a century, suddenly invent xenophobia against a handful of Chinese people who are here to do business with us, indeed have only been here less than a decade ago. Why are we taught to hate people with whom we have a shared colonial history, taught to hate each other by our common enemy?
Bearded infantiles
It helps to recall that one enduring ruse of imperialism is turn its real victims into its “freed” beneficiaries from another and even imaginary evil power invented solely to burnish its own otherwise glaring misdeeds and evil acts. So in 1890 the Shonas were not invaded, conquered, occupied and enslaved; they were saved from a marauding despot called Lobengula. So goes the colonial lore. Similarly, today Zimbabweans have to fear and be saved from the Chinese who loot their diamonds and “invest only for China”, and not from the British who have looted their country, independence, resources and personality since 1890.
Not saved from the same British who seek the old colonial mastery. I thought we had come of age, grown older than child-men and child-women of yore, bearded infantiles who are given new, diversionary scapegoats by their real enemies. That way we forget that China became a powerhouse not by smoking British opium, not by aping British ways, but by skillfully riding the hyena of capitalism, taming it until it accepted to have Chinese characteristics. I have no problem in Zimbabweans not wanting to lose their finite resources to the Chinese; what bothers me is their readiness to lose them to the West. And feeling most holy and righteous about it. Icho!
nathaniel.manheru@zimpapers.co.zw
Labels: CHINA, CHINESE, NATHANIEL MANHERU, SANCTIONS, TOBACCO
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Rupiah pleads not guilty to corruption
By Agness Changala
Wed 06 Nov. 2013, 14:01 CAT
RUPIAH Banda yesterday pleaded not guilty to corrupt practices by public officer and concealing gratification of motor vehicles from two Chinese companies.
In this case, former president Banda is charged with two counts of corrupt practices by a public officer and concealing gratification contrary to the Laws of Zambia.
Taking plea before Lusaka principal resident magistrate Obbister Musukwa, Banda said he understood the charges he was facing but denied committing the offences.
Magistrate Musukwa recorded pleas of not guilty in both counts and adjourned the case to November 26 for commencement of trial.
Allegations are that Banda on dates unknown but between January 1, 2011 in Lusaka, being a person holding and performing functions of the President of the Republic of Zambia, corruptly received 10 motor vehicles, namely Mitsubishi Canter, chassis number FE538E-520252,
Mitsubishi Canter, chassis number FE649E-520121, Mitsubishi Canter, chassis number FE648E-501363, Mitsubishi Canter, chassis number FE649E-501111, Mitsubishi Canter chassis number FE63EG-550624, Hino Ranger, chassis number FD2JLB-16068, Toyota Toyoace, chassis number BU212-0104855 and Fuso fighter, chassis number FK618K-510102.
Other vehicles are a Mitsubishi Canter, chassis number FE638E-521633, and Toyota Toyoace, chassis number BU102-0107304, all valued at US$180,000, as gratification from SOGECAO Zambia Limited and SOGECAO Construction and Engineering Investments Limited, which companies were subsidiaries of Anui Foreign Economic Construction Company of China, a company that had dealings with the government to do various public works.
It is alleged that the gratification was an inducement or reward for himself in return for his favourable treatment of these companies in their dealings with the government.
Count two alleges that Banda on dates unknown but between January 1, 2011 and August 30, 2011 in Lusaka, received nine motor vehicles, all valued at US$180,000, which property was obtained as gratification from SOGECAO Zambia Limited and SOGECAO Construction and Engineering Investments Limited, which companies were subsidiaries of Anui Foreign Economic Construction Company of China a company that had dealings with Zambia to do with various public works.
It is alleged that the gratification was an inducement or reward for himself in return for his favourable treatment of these companies in their dealings with the government, of which he was head, and concealed the receipt of the said motor vehicles by having them registered in the names of James Banda MS, Verecy Lute Banda and Kelvin Sampa.
The matter comes up on November 26 for trial.
Labels: CHINA, CORRUPTION, MMD, OBBISTER MUSUKWA, RUPIAH BANDA
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(ANN GARRISON) ICC judges say Kenya's Kenyatta can skip much of his own criminal trial
Submitted by Ann Garrison on Sat, 10/19/2013 - 21:02
KPFA Evening News, 2013
International Criminal Court judges say that Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta need not be present for all of his own trial for crimes against humanity.
Transcript:
KPFA Evening News Anchor David Rosenberg: And, you are listening to the Evening News, KPFA and KPFB in Berkeley, KFCF in Fresno, and kpfa.org.
Yesterday a majority of International Criminal Court judges ruled that Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta need not be present for much of his own trial for crimes against humanity, but that he must be present during the opening and closing statements, the victims’ testimony, and, the verdict. If found guilty, he must attend sentencing hearings and the delivery of sentencing, at which point he would presumably be taken into custody, leaving Kenya to replace him. KPFA’s Ann Garrison has more.
KPFA/Ann Garrison: Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta says he’s too busy, as Kenya’s elected head of state, to attend his trial at the International Criminal Court in the Hague, and the African Union, in their recent gathering in Addis Abbaba, Ethiopia, passed a resolution that, as a sitting head of state, he shouldn’t have to. The court indicted Kenyatta for organizing violence that rose to the level of crimes against humanity, after his party lost the Kenyan 2007-2008 election, but he was nevertheless elected president in April 2013. His rival, former Kenyan Prime Minister Raul Odinga, who is favored by the U.S., said that he didn’t know how Kenyatta could run the country via SKYPE from the Hague.
Black Agenda Report Editor Glen Ford, like many other critics of the court, says that Kenyatta’s indictment is another example of the U.S. using the International Criminal Court as an imperial tool.
Glen Ford: It is a travesty of justice that the ICC only indicts Africans, but even more importantly, the International Criminal Court also only indicts those politicians that get on the wrong Kenyatta shook hands on deals worth $5 billion with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping in August 2013. side of the United States and the former colonial powers in Africa. The ICC is a tool of U.S. foreign policy.
KPFA: Some say that the U.S. is unhappy with President Kenyatta because he prefers to do business with China, and he did, in August 2013, sign five billion dollar deals with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping, to build a railway line, an energy project, and improve wildlife protection. Yesterday an energy professional and Christian Science Monitor contributor said that Kenya’s oil reserves might soar past even Uganda’s.
Glen Ford disagrees with South Africa’s former Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who says that African leaders are effectively looking for a license to kill, main and oppress their own people by withdrawing from the ICC. He says that the United States collaborates in such crimes and objects only as a matter of political convenience.
Glen Ford: And here lies the greatest irony. The very nations that most oppose the ICC have the blood of millions on their hands. Rwanda and Uganda are principally responsible for the death of six million Congolese over the past 17 years, an ongoing genocide armed and financed by the United States and Britain. The Ethiopian regime's brutality towards its Somali and Oromo ethnic groups has also been described as genocidal. But because the United States is also deeply complicit in these crimes, there is no threat of prosecution by the Black Agenda Report Editor Glen Ford International Criminal Court.
KPFA: African scholars writing in the African Pambazuka News and Black Star News have sided with Tutu, arguing that despite the court’s obvious bias and imperfection, the threat of indictment and conviction there restrains the violence of African strongmen. And that instead of rejecting the court out of hand, dissidents should demand that it live up to its stated ideals.
For Pacifica, KPFA and AfrobeatRadio, I'm Ann Garrison.
Labels: ANN GARRISON, CHINA, ICC, KENYA, UHURU KENYATTA
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(NEWZIMBABWE, XINHUA) Chinese envoy raps West’s Cold War mentality
22/10/2013 00:00:00
by Xinhua
CHINESE Ambassador to Zimbabwe Lin Lin on Tuesday defended China’s relations with Africa and dismissed as coloured by a “cold war mentality” Western criticism of his country’s dealings with the continent.
"There are always people observing China-Africa relations through coloured glasses with the Cold War mentality, posing groundless criticism and attacks against China-Africa cooperation, " Lin told about 40 scholars attending an academic symposium on China-Africa relations organized by Southern African Research and Documentation Centre.
"Such practices have disturbed the sound and stable development momentum of China-Africa cooperation," Lin said.
"The relationship is solidly based on friendship and cooperation and remains on the top agenda of our leadership."
Lin, who was formerly the ambassador to Ethiopia, said for example there were a lot of Chinese-invested projects in Ethiopia, a country without much resource and does not face Western sanctions like Zimbabwe.
"Some people say China only invests in minerals and oil rich countries, but Ethiopia has neither of them," Lin said.
China has been the main source of foreign investments for Zimbabwe.
Last year, Chinese investment accounted for 72 percent of the more than US$900 million U.S. dollars foreign invested-projects approved by the Zimbabwe Investment Authority.
The envoy also brushed off allegations that China pushes for investments in Africa to solve its own unemployment.
"Today, you may find Chinese companies everywhere in Africa, but it is not a government strategy to solve unemployment. The Chinese government creates a lot of jobs for its people, and we don't have to send people to Africa to find jobs," he added.
China-Africa relations developed to new highs after the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was established by Chinese and African leaders at their inaugural summit in 2000 to chart a new type of strategic partnership.
Bilateral trade surged, foreign direct investment grew, and cooperation in health, agriculture, and many other fields achieved breakthroughs.
Labels: CHINA, COLD WAR, USA
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Zimpapers in drive to boost investment in Bulawayo
October 22, 2013 Wenceslaus Murape Headlines, Top Stories
Top1
Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo (centre) confers with the Economic and Commercial Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy Mr Han Bing (left) and Zimpapers Bulawayo Branch general manager Mr Marks Shayamano during a tour of Typocrafters premises in the Belmont Industrial area in Bulawayo yesterday
Bulawayo Bureau
ZIMPAPERS, in conjunction with Chinese investors, is working on a huge investment to turn the defunct Typocrafters into a modern printing firm that will tap into the local and regional markets.Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo, his deputy Cde Supa Mandiwanzira, Zimpapers chief operating officer and editor-in-chief Pikirayi Deketeke and officials from the Chinese Embassy, yesterday toured Typocrafters premises in Belmont to assess its suitability for the new deal.
Chinese officials expressed satisfaction with the facilities and pledged to compile an urgent report for their Government recommending investing in Bulawayo.
Addressing the delegation, Prof Moyo said: “The place appears like some ruins, but the truth is that a lot of good business for Zimpapers used to come from here. This is a good example of what happens if you allow technology to go ahead of you.
“What is important is that there is a bright future for this place. It is still suitable to house state-of-the-art printing equipment in the same manner with what is happening in Harare . The new printing press will be able to print Chronicle and Sunday News from here and other titles.
“It will also reach other markets, for example in Botswana and South Africa. We are also talking about printing commercially and this will create more opportunities.”
Prof Moyo said the move would cut production costs for Zimpapers as it would be able to print The Herald and The Sunday Mail for sale in the southern region, while Chronicle and Sunday News would also be printed in Harare.
He said the fruition of the initiative would not only improve economic efficiency for the public media, but increase the spreading of information across the country.
“We have been engaging other media houses talking about the issue of sharing facilities and I have no doubt they will be interested in taking a look into this initiative.
“It will be good that we do not consider this as a Zimpapers facility, but a national facility for the growth of all media houses. We are keen to move forward as soon as possible,” said Prof Moyo.
“This will make the papers reach out to all corners of the country, which is currently not possible but necessary given the importance of information. We prioritised this visit and we are grateful that you were able to come here.”
He instructed management to provide the Chinese officials with the required technical information and specifications and described the initiative as a fantastic move for Zimpapers.
Chinese Embassy economic counsellor Mr Han Bing said he was satisfied with the facility, saying it was suitable to house modern equipment.
“We visited this site to see if it was suitable for the project of a new printing line. We will report back to China what we saw today and lobby our Government to consider investing here,” said Mr Han, who could not be drawn into disclosing the value of the proposed investment.
“We needed specifications about this place, its size, condition and design and we are impressed. The building itself is nice and the conditions are excellent and suitable for a modern company. It just needs a few renovations.”
Cde Mandiwanzira said the scope of the proposed investment showed Government’s commitment towards reviving industries, particularly in Bulawayo.
The proposed investment comes as a relief to Bulawayo, where about 100 firms have closed in the last decade, leaving thousands jobless.
“This reflects a lot of things that we have been talking about concerning revival of industry, especially in this part of the country. It shows our commitment to revive Bulawayo industry and Matabeleland region as a whole,” said Cde Mandiwanzira.
Mr Deketeke said the company has been engaging Chinese investors for a long time seeking partnership for recapitalisation.
“We have been talking to China in the past under the Government-to-Government co-operation and they have expressed interest in giving us a grant or interest-free loan, which will be facilitated to us in the form of a new printing press,” said Mr Deketeke.
“This is a ghost that needs to be revived and we will revive it and have a fully fledged factory. This visit is part of that engagement process and it has not been finalised. We are happy that they have seen our facility and they are impressed with it.”
At the moment, Typocrafters lies desolate with mounds of obsolete equipment and disused offices. Part of the building has been leased to a departmental store, Fazak, and Sunset Milling Company on an annual contract.
Zimpapers Bulawayo Branch general manager Mr Marks Shayamano and Chronicle editor Mduduzi Mathuthu were also part of the delegation.
Later on the delegation visited the Zimpapers Bulawayo branch where it assessed the printing press. Prof Moyo said the printing equipment at the branch was old and needed to be replaced.
He also said there was a need to give the entire building a facelift.
Labels: AMBASSADOR, CHINA, FDI, MARKS SHAYAMANO, ZIMPAPERS
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(NEWZIMBABWE, XINHUA) Mugabe meets Chinese Foreign Minister
25/09/2013 00:00:00
by Xinhua
CHINA will work with Zimbabwe and other African nations to push for greater development in the relations between the Asian country and the continent to benefit the two peoples, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Tuesday. Wang made the remarks during a meeting with President Robert Mugabe at the UN headquarters in New York.
He said Mugabe is not only a well-known leader of the national liberation movement in Africa, but also an old friend of the Chinese people.
Chinese-Zimbabwean ties have stood the test of time and the two countries' traditional friendship is full of fresh vigor and vitality, said the Chinese top diplomat.
Mugabe agreed that Africa and China have enjoyed an unbreakable traditional friendship.
China was the most reliable friend of Africa during the continent's national liberation movement decades ago, he said, adding that the Asian country is still the most reliable, cooperative partner when African nations seek better development.
Mugabe said Zimbabwe firmly adheres to its "Look East" policy, as China is the only country in the world that has provided sincere and selfless assistance to Africa and cooperated with the continent on the basis of mutual respect, equal treatment, mutual benefit and win-win results.
The president also voiced his belief that cooperation between China and Zimbabwe, as well as other African nations, has bright prospects.
Opening the first session of the eighth parliament on Tuesday last week, Mugabe said China will play a bigger role in water and energy infrastructure development in Zimbabwe in the coming few years.
China's Sino Hydro and China Machinery and Equipment Company had won tenders to expand Kariba and Hwange Power Stations, each expected to add an additional 900 megawatts to the national grid. Both projects are supported by a Chinese loan of 144 million U.S. dollars
The president also said the capital city Harare will, in collaboration with an unnamed partner, implement a revamped water service delivery plan.
"The plan will see the construction of three new dams and additional water treatment plants over a period of seven years," he said.
Labels: CHINA, ROBERT MUGABE, WANG YI
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Chinese contractor annoys Sata
By Christopher Miti and Joseph Mwenda in Chipata
Sun 21 July 2013, 14:00 CAT
PRESIDENT Michael Sata has threatened to cancel the contract of the tarring of the Chipata-Vubwi awarded to a Chinese contractor after the contractor allegedly lied to him that the works have reached Paramount Chief Mpezeni's palace. And President Sata said the people of Eastern Province are wise but that they have no leadership.
Meanwhile, Mpezeni says President Sata should be given chance to rule and that he has a national key to development. President Sata, who arrived in Chipata after 12:00 hours went straight to check on the progress of the Chipata-Vubwi Road but was shocked to find that the contractor was not on the site.
"Where is Chinaman? What kind of a contractor is this? He leaves the labourers here and goes to play. I am a contractor and as a contractor you don't leave the site. How can you leave equipment alone? Willie Nsanda, we have not run out of contractors just cancel their contract. They lied that they had reached the palace. Is this the palace?" he asked.
President Sata, who was annoyed, told the driver that was found on site to tell his boss to get to Mchini where he was holding the first rally.
At the rally held at Mchini Basic School, President Sata told the Chinese contractor China Jiangxi that he was not serious.
"What are you doing here? Instead of working, you are here eating. If you are not serious you must go back to China. You are just stealing money from the poor Zambians. Get out of here! Go! Just get out and go back to work," Sata shouted at the Chinese contractor as Chipata residents applauded him.
And President Sata urged the people of Chipata Central to vote for PF candidate Lameck Mangani in Thursday's by-election. He said when Mangani left MMD, he appreciated him by giving the province Chadiza and Vubwi roads.
President Sata said PF had only one member of parliament out of the 19 in the province. He said the opposition members of parliament had done nothing in the province.
"Easterners are very good people. That's where wise people come from. Don't vote for PF. Vote the way you always vote. You like suffering. It's up to you whether you want to move together with me because in
Northern, Lusaka, Luapula, Central, Copperbelt they all voted for us," President Sata said.
President Sata said Mangani left MMD government because it was barren and that he went to PF which was not barren. He said he knew all the problems that Chipata was facing.
"The people of Eastern Province were wise during the biblical times but this time this wisdom is gone. You have nice hills but people are not looking good. Children look like old people like me," President Sata said.
He said Mangani should come so that he could change things.
President Sata urged the people of Eastern Province to change.
"At our first meeting, I received 106 defectors and one councillor. They have left MMD. It is up to you to change," he said.
President Sata said because of lack of leadership in the province, people were selling maize in Mozambique and Malawi.
"In Eastern Province we have a railway line which comes from Malawi and we have a bicycle factory. There are so many things that can be done here but need leadership. If you choose a leader here everything will come. Easterners are wise but the leaders like money. I hope Mangani, you have seen how your relatives are suffering," President Sata said.
Meanwhile Mpezeni, who attended the Mpezeni Park Square rally, urged the people to give President Sata chance to rule the country.
He said President Sata was a leader for all Zambians. Mpezeni said his friendship with President Sata started a long time ago.
He urged the people to work with President Sata's government if they wanted development. Earlier, National Revolution party leader Cosmo Mumba urged the people to vote for Mangani. Mumba urged the people not to listen to ABZ leader Frank Bwalya.
Labels: CHIEF MPEZENI, CHINA, CHIPATA, MICHAEL SATA
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Communist Party of China urges caution on West forces
By Roy Habaalu in Beijing, China
Mon 01 July 2013, 14:00 CAT
PF should not allow western forces to divide Zambia, says the Communist Party of China. And PF director for media and publicity Chanda Mfula says the party is aware of five websites sponsored by western countries to cause divisions in Zambia.
Addressing PF delegates on political party publicity and media strategy, director of southern Africa, bureau of African affairs of the international department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) central committee, Zhou Guohui said PF should protect the independence and sovereignty of Zambia.
"Zambia must be independent from all forces. Sugar is good but please keep your sovereignty. In China, we welcome money and investors but never use us as tools to fight our own brothers. Zambia also needs to be independent from outside forces if it's to grow and PF is doing well and must be supported by all Zambians. What they are doing is for the interest and protection of the country but this won't be easy," he said.
Zhou said Zambia should find its own way of growing its political system. He said the country should develop strategies that were acceptable and appreciated by its people.
"Make decisions by yourselves, let Zambians decide. Don't allow anyone to impose anything. The revolution is not over yet. There are a lot of reactionary forces that don't want to see an independent Zambia. You need to do a lot to make people understand that PF is for the people and not capitalists because a capitalist is a friend but not a real friend. PF is ruling and should take charge," said Zhou.
Zhou said opposition parties should collaborate with the PF in order to develop the country.
He said the PF had done well in appointing opposition members of parliament into government positions because it was in the interest of the country.
"Without unity, there cannot be development. All parties need to work together with the party in government to develop the country," said Zhou.
And Mfula, the delegation leader, said the PF would guard against all forms of foreign influence.
He said some western countries had fanned divisions in Zambia.
"For example, we are aware that five websites are funded by western countries to create alarm in the country, to cause panic, denounce and malign the President Michael Sata and the government. These forces are enjoying divisions in the country," said Mfula.
Labels: CHANDA MFULA, CHINA, ZHOU GUOHUI
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(REUTERS) Glencore clinches Chinese approval with copper deal
By Clara Ferreira-Marques
LONDON | Tue Apr 16, 2013 9:23am EDT
LONDON (Reuters) - China's antitrust authorities removed the last obstacle to Glencore's $30 billion takeover of miner Xstrata on Tuesday after the commodities trader agreed to sell a $5.2 billion mining project to ease its grip on copper.
Xstrata's Las Bambas mine in Peru had been expected to be sacrificed to secure the approval of China's Ministry of Commerce, but Glencore also agreed 8-year commitments covering the supply of copper, zinc and lead to China.
Chinese regulators have rarely demanded asset sales to improve competition after a major tie-up, but the importance of the metals that Glencore mines and trades for China's economy meant the merger was unlikely to go through without changes.
In particular, Glencore had already signaled that Chinese authorities were focused on its hold on the copper market, and specifically copper concentrate. Glencore and Xstrata combined account for roughly 7 percent of global copper supply.
Glencore, which is now on track to complete the industry's biggest ever deal in two weeks, has to begin the process of selling Las Bambas within three months, and find a buyer by the end of August 2014.
If it does not find a buyer for the asset - a major mine expected to produce an annual 400,000 metric tons of copper for at least four years from 2015 - it will have to find alternatives.
Glencore, which has made no secret of its desire to slash the number of Xstrata mines being built from scratch, will have three months to offer up one of the miner's longer-dated projects instead - namely Tampakan in Peru, Frieda River in Papua New Guinea, El Pachon or Alumbrera in Argentina.
"Them being willing to sell Las Bambas shows there are no sacred cows in the eyes of the Glencore management. It shows they think a little differently - they've always shied away from greenfield projects," analyst Jeff Largey at Nomura said.
"If they can pull value forwards on Las Bambas by selling it - rather than taking on all the operational and execution risk associated with building it (and) bringing it to production - I think the market will reward them."
Satisfying China's appetite for concentrate, an intermediate product that feeds refineries and smelters, Glencore agreed to supply a minimum of 900,000 tonnes of copper to Chinese clients a year for 8 years from 2013. The price for at least 200,000 tonnes will be priced in accordance with the benchmark level.
Glencore also agreed to supply zinc and lead concentrate on "fair and reasonable" terms.
XSTRATA DEPARTURES
China's green light on Tuesday paved the way for Glencore to tie up at last its long-desired acquisition of Xstrata by next month - 15 months after it was first announced.
But separate news on Tuesday of a stream of departures from Xstrata's management team highlighted the challenges during what will be Glencore's biggest integration to date.
Xstrata announced chief executive Mick Davis would not take up the role of at the combined group for six months, as initially agreed. It also announced the departure of divisional heads including copper boss Charlie Sartain and nickel chief Ian Pearce, along with Thras Moraitis, Xstrata's head of strategy and a close associate of Davis.
"This clearly turned into a takeover rather than a merger. We all knew (Glencore chief executive) Ivan Glasenberg was going to be the top dog, it was just a matter of time," Nomura's Largey said.
Glencore has already cleared regulatory hurdles including the European Union, which instead of copper focused on the group's concentration in zinc.
Glencore had agreed to scrap a European zinc sales with producer Nyrstar, and said on Tuesday it had struck a deal and a termination fee. Nyrstar will buy out Glencore's almost 8 percent equity stake for 3.39 euros a share - below the current price - for a total of 44.9 million euros.
($1 = 0.6531 British pounds)
(Additional reporting by Stephen Eisenhammer and Jane Barrett in London, Michael Martina and Shao Xiaoyi in Beijing; editing by Jonathan Standing and David Stamp)
Labels: CHINA, COPPER, GLENCORE INTERNATIONAL AG
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Diamond deposits found in Bikita
11/03/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
Gift Chimanikire, the deputy mines minister, said Nan Jiang Africa Resources Ltd had now submitted a new application for a licence to mine diamonds following the find.
Chimanikire said four kimberlite pipes had been discovered at Devuli Ranch in the Budzi communal area – on the border with Manicaland Province which is believed to hold some of the world’s biggest diamond deposits.
Kimberlite pipes – named after Kimberley in South Africa where they were first found – are believed to have developed from powerful magma eruptions between 1,100 million and 20 million years ago.
In Marange, Manicaland, the diamond deposits are mainly alluvial – diamonds that originate in kimberlite pipes but get moved by geological activity into river beds and even flat surfaces.
Chimanikire said a team from the ministry had been to Bikita and had prepared a report of an analysis of the type of diamonds found and their estimated value. This information will be used in considering Nan Jiang Africa Resources’ application.
The company has reportedly hired over 100 workers and brought in heavy mining equipment. The area where the diamonds were discovered is now patrolled by armed guards.
But Chimanikire warned Nan Jiang they could face sanctions if they begin mining before a licence is granted.
The company, meanwhile, has been active in the local community – helping villagers draw water from Devure River for irrigation.
Labels: CHINA, DIAMONDS, GIFT CHIMANIKIRE, NAN JIANG AFRICA RESOURCES LTD
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US State Department-Funded BBC World Service "Jammed" in China
West feigns indignation as China allegedly shuts down US State Dept-funded BBC propaganda.
February 26, 2013 (AltThaiNews-Tony Cartalucci) - Headlines across the Western corporate-media read, "BBC says 'extensive, coordinated efforts' to jam world service frequencies in China" (Fox News), "BBC blocked in China just days after reporting on Chinese hackers" (Washington Post), and "BBC "strongly condemns" China's attempts to jam World Service broadcasts" (Radio Times), before weaving a lofty narrative of a "repressive regime" trying to gag freedom of the press.
In reality,
BBC's World Service is directly funded by the US State Department and is insidious propaganda admittedly designed to politically subvert not only China, but Iran, Russia, and many other nations perceived by Wall Street and London as intolerable competition. In March of 2011, the London Guardian in its report, "BBC World Service to sign funding deal with US state department," stated explicitly:
The BBC World Service is to receive a "significant" sum of money from the US government to help combat the blocking of TV and internet services in countries including Iran and China.
In what the BBC said is the first deal of its kind, an agreement is expected to be signed later this month that will see US state department money – understood to be a low six-figure sum – given to the World Service to invest in developing anti-jamming technology and software.
The funding is also expected to be used to educate people in countries with state censorship in how to circumnavigate the blocking of internet and TV services.
It is understood the US government has decided the reach of the World Service is such that it makes investment worthwhile.
Of course, "blocked" content translates to US State Department and other Western interests' propaganda in the form of the openly US State Department-run "Voice of America," and a myriad of faux-NGO's funded directly by the US government's National Endowment for Democracy (NED). In China particularly, NED has been cultivating a troupe of misfit "activists" and faux-fronts with names ranging from the cartoonish - the "Blind Activist" aka the "Barefoot Lawyer," to the very ironic - "China Labor Watch, Inc," which we must assume "watches" on, as exploited children and adults labor for WalMart and Apple.
RT would also report in 2011, in their report "BBC World Service and US State Department: new partners, new bias?," that:
This would not be the first time the BBC has accepted money from organizations with their own agendas. In 2008, the corporation faced accusations of pro-Europe bias after it was revealed it had taken out US $230 million in loans from the EU. The loans were given by the European Investment Bank, which strives to promote EU policies.
Member of European Parliament Gerard Batten has a long-running beef with the BBC.
"It is institutionally politically biased, certainly in favour of things like the European Union, mass immigration, and a whole other host of ‘politically correct’ ideas that I think it peddles to the public,” he told RT.
Batten says taking this money would expose the hypocrisy at the heart of the BBC.
"The EU bans sponsorship of any news and current affairs TV programs across the EU,” Batten said. “Now it would appear then, that if the US State Department is going to fund BBC that would appear to be in breach of the directive."
Biased, politically motivated enterprises like BBC's World Service in fact represent a breach of journalistic ethics, and not only was Beijing's decision to shut down World Services highly appropriate (if they in fact have done so), but so too would an investigation in both the US and the UK seeking to ascertain why in an economic crisis, money is being spent to sow political subversion overseas for the sake of corporate special interests, when people at home direly need assistance.
The BBC is an organization mired in controversy, and repeatedly exposed as exploiting people's trust in their reputation to push the agenda of well-paying special interests. The coordinated effort by the Western media to spin the BBC's latest confrontation from a well equipped nation-state who has decided to pull the plug, is indicative that the rot that has infected BBC, has spread far and wide across the West indeed.
Labels: BBC, CHINA, NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY, PROPAGANDA, VOA
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